Webcomic/Terra

"This war between our two planets is causing a lot of distress in the galaxy. With many species being caught in the middle. There are some very corrupt and powerful men that benefit from their suffering, and will fight to keep the war going. I ensure that those men are brought to justice."

Terra is a science fiction webcomic by Holly Laing and Drew Dailey telling the story of guerrillas working to put an end to a war between Earth and the Azatoth that has pretty much every other spacefaring race in the galaxy caught in the middle. The comic generally updates on Wednesdays and Fridays, though it's had to go on hiatus several times due to Real Life interference.

The guerrillas call themselves simply the Resistance, and the comic focuses on four in particular. Grey O'Shea is a Friendly Sniper formerly of the United Earth Coalition Mobile Infantry. His entire unit was killed in an Azatoth ambush, but he was rescued by Resistance Agent Agrippa Varus, a former soldier for the Azatoth who fled The Purge of his family for his father's involvement in the founding of the Resistance. He's gruff, somewhat humorless, and terrifying in hand-to-hand combat, but he's also capable of great compassion. Lieutenant Alexis Hawke and Flight Engineer Rick MacFarlane are a UEC Space Fighter crew shot down by the Resistance and rescued by Grey and Agrippa. Alex, formerly an Azatoth slave, is tough and spunky and has a little bit of UST with Grey, while Rick is a friendly Non-Action Guy and the resident Mr. Fixit. At the moment Alex and Rick just want to get home (the latter has a family to feed back on Earth), and Grey and Agrippa are attempting to get them on a ship to Earth.

Terra provides examples of the following tropes:

Aliens Are Bastards/Humans Are Bastards: The Azatoth have Blood Knight tendencies, practice slavery, and most of the antagonist ones seem to have little respect for the concept of civilians. The UEC is an expansionist empire whose upper brass are quite willing to order civilian transports shot down, and according to the codex human terrorists were responsible for sparking the current conflict.

The Alliance/La Résistance: The Resistance opposes both sides and was formed when several independent groups linked up under pressure from individuals such as Eve Arlia and Consul Argo Varus. They want to stop the war because the unaligned races and civilians are getting it in the shorts, and because factions on both sides (the military-industrial complex in the UEC, and the Shadow Cabal in the Asurian Empire) have ulterior motives for continuing it.

Armor Is Useless: The comic features a number of armors, and not one piece of it has ever been shown to be effective against anything. The personal Deflector Shields worn by certain Shadow Cabal Elite Mooks, on the other hand...

Boom, Headshot: Seen repeatedly, first early in chapter one when Grey puts a sniper rifle round through the faceplate of an Azatoth soldier flanking a member of his platoon.

Bulletproof Human Shield: On page 243 a mook grabs the corpse of one Alex already shot and killed and uses him to block her fire while he returns it. This set off a brief bout of Wild Mass Guessing in the comments. Eventually Holly put her foot down and pointed out that Alex never actually shot at the body because the mook holding the BHS was quicker on the trigger; therefore whether her rifle fire would or would not penetrate was a moot point.

Defensive Failure: Grey finds Rick first, and Rick pulls a gun on him. It's abundantly clear to Grey that Rick is a Non-Action Guy and has never had to use his weapon before and he easily disarms him. Then he gives the gun back handle-first to point out that he's not an enemy.

The UEC military is a simplified version of the one used by most Earth militaries in real life, with enlisted Army and Navy using the same names and officers using different ones. The rank system is as follows:

The Asurian Empire's military uses a vaguely Roman-inspired version. A Recruit is New Meat. After three years' satisfactory service they're promoted to Marshal and command a small unit. A Veteran (5 years' satisfactory service) commands small sections generally comprised of 8 Recruits and 3 Marshals (roughly equivalent to a platoon). The Centurian is second-in-command to the Sentinel, who commands four sections. Paladins command full companies. The Consuls advise the Sovereign and are appointed from the Paladins.

Grey and Gray Morality: The UEC and Asurian Empire are a fairly dark shade of gray. Both are responsible for atrocities, and both feature decent people as Punch Clock Villains. The Resistance are A Lighter Shade of Grey: they're fighting for their homes with the hope of ending the war, but use assassination as one of their main tactics.

The Guards Must Be Crazy: Protip to any aspiring Mooks out there: When you capture a dangerous badass like Agrippa Varus, make sure to search him thoroughly in case he's hiding something like, oh, a hand grenade.

He Knows Too Much: Alex and Rick's CO asks the wrong question after they're shot down and catches acute lead poisoning at the hand of the task force commander.

Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy/Renegade Splinter Faction: The Shadow Cabal led by Solus Kalar, son of the current Sovereign of the Asurian Empire. Originally started as a personal army for Sovereign Northazul, it has expanded into a barely controllable paramilitary group with its hands in everything from slave-raiding to salvage operations.

Old-School Dogfight: A dogfight between Resistance fighters guarding the evacuation of the base and a UEC fighter squadron attacking it (including Alex and Rick) takes up the majority of chapter three.

Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Azatoth, though the exact angle of the trope varies heavily by individual. Agrippa and Talos focus on the "Proud," with a strong sense of personal honor and no tolerance for attacking civilians. Solus is a racist Well-Intentioned Extremist advocating the use of biological warfare against humanity. Catella is pretty much just a fight-happy bitch.

Space Romans: Holly admits to drawing a lot of inspiration for the Azatoth from ancient Rome. The names are Roman-inspired, they practice slavery, and the government structure is somewhat Roman in style.

Simmons:(referring to Grey's rescue of Alex and Rick) C'mon, I saw that one of the officers was female, and a cute one at that--I know you, Grey. Grey: Her?! Please, she's way too uptight. I don't have time for girls like that. Simmons: What, you think you even stand a chance? Grey: Give me a break. She may have an attitude, but if I wanted her, I could have her by the end of the night. Alex: Hm, I'll take that bet.

Rubber-Forehead Aliens: From here. The Azatoth would be Human Aliens but for a heavier brow ridge and a couple nodules on the sides of their noses, and average a foot taller than humans. The Vareliens look like asari with longer, more flexible head-tentacles. The Shintari have swept-back conical heads and orange skin.

Kaleb: Bastard! You think you're really changing anything? Solus has more power and influence than you could ever dream of. You can't stop him -- and if you kill me, another will take my place. Agrippa:(slashes Kaleb's throat with his combat knife) Then their fate will be the same as yours.

Sole Survivor: A character trope used quite heavily. Grey is the last of the UEC First Recon unit killed in an Azatoth ambush, Agrippa's family was purged on orders from Sovereign Northazul, Alex's entire colony was slaughtered by the Shadow Cabal, Catella's colony was slaughtered by human raiders, and the list goes on.

Trivial Title: "Terra" refers to the jumpgate station in the Sol System, which so far the only importance to the plot is that it's the place where Alex and Rick's fighter squadron is based. They leave it behind after chapter three.

Worst Aid: After the UEC air raid on the Resistance base Agrippa finds Eve in the ruins of the base with a chunk of conduit stuck through her abdomen. He shoves it out through her back. Several commenters called the authors on this.

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